Students in our Senior School (Years 3-6) experience opportunities to participate in "Personalised Learning". This approach to teaching and learning aims to increase student engagement in learning programs by giving them a greater ownership of what they are learning. The idea of personalised learning has five key parts:
- the students learn how to learn...teachers help students to build up a range of different learning skills that they can use to approach a problem or question that they interested in
- the students are involved in assessment for learning...teachers provide a range of assessments that the students can perform or that they complete with the teacher to help them realise what they do and do not understand
- students and teachers together shape which teaching and learning strategies are needed and when to use them
- students have curriculum choice...teachers guide students to form a pathway that develop skills which enable them to build their knowledge
- students have mentoring and support...an adult provides one-to-one mentoring for the learner and peers may provide support during learning.
The most common form of personalised learning can be seen in student projects although these tend to be called Individual Learning Project (ILPs). Students and teachers negotiate the requirements of the work. It allows for the many interests and skills a child brings to the activity. As students and teachers shape the task together, it ensures that children are constantly being extended to learn new skills.
During 2009, the school newsletter has been used to share a new Department of Education and Early Childhood Development approach to instruction called E5. This model which consists of the 5 domains of Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate, will support our personalised learning approach.
